Your blood contains three types of cells: red blood cells that carry oxygen, white blood cells that fight off infections and platelets that form blood clots. Cells in your bone marrow, known as stem cells, continually produce new blood cells. Anemia, a common medical condition, occurs when you body produces too few functioning red blood cells. A type of anemia, aplastic anemia, causes a low number of red and white blood cells, but most types of anemia, including megaloblastic anemia which occurs due to a vitamin B-12 deficiency, do not affect white blood cell counts.
Anemia
Anemia is a general term used to describe a low red blood cell count. Healthy red blood cell production depends upon a variety of factors, both internal and external. External factors like iron, vitamin B-6 and vitamin B-12 availability can impact red blood cell production without affecting the production of other types of blood cells. Internal factors like stem cells dysfunction can affect both red and white blood cell numbers.
Megaloblastic Anemia
Your body needs vitamin B-12, found naturally in fish, meat, poultry, eggs and milk, for proper red blood cell production. A vitamin B-12 deficiency impairs the production of the genetic material needed for new cells, known as DNA – deoxyribose nucleic acid. The lack of DNA causes the rapidly dividing stem cells to malfunction, producing large, immature red blood cells that lack the hemoglobin needed to carry oxygen -- a condition known as megaloblastic anemia. To treat megaloblastic anemia, doctors prescribe vitamin B-12 supplements.
Aplastic Anemia
Aplastic anemia is a rare but serious blood disorder that occurs due to damaged stem cells that cannot produce enough red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The exact cause of aplastic anemia remains unknown, but the condition may be an inherited – passed to you by your parents at birth – or acquired. Taking vitamin B-12 supplements will not treat aplastic anemia. Treatments for this condition include blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants.
B-12 Recommendation
The Institute of Medicine recommends that adults consume 2.4 mcg of vitamin B-12 per day. Only animal food products contain vitamin B-12, so vegetarians need to take vitamin B-12 supplements to meet their daily recommended intake. Because vitamin B-12 binds to the protein in the food source, it requires stomach acid to release the B-12 and make it available for absorption. A decrease in the production of stomach acid causes malabsorption of vitamin B-12, leading to a B-12 deficiency and the onset of megaloblastic anemia.
B-12 Supplements
If you have a low red blood cell count and a low white blood cells count, consult with your doctor to determine the cause. Your doctor can treat low red blood cell count due to a vitamin B-12 deficiency with vitamin B-12 supplements available as oral medication, injection or nasal gel. Oral supplements should not be used to treat a B-12 deficiency caused by malabsorption. Multivitamins and vitamin B-complex also contain vitamin B-12 to help ensure that you meet your daily recommended intake. Although taking vitamin B-12 supplements helps ensure overall health, they do not treat a low white blood cell count.
References
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; What is Aplastic Anemia?; October 2010
- Linus Pauling Institute; Vitamin B-12; Victoria Drake; August 2007
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements; Vitamin B-12; June 2011
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Anemia; Stephen Ehrlich; December 2009
- Institute of Medicine; Dietary Reference Intakes: Vitamins; 2004
